


Roller Coaster Ride

by man_of_vibranium (orphan_account)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Roller Coasters, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 09:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15554430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/man_of_vibranium
Summary: underoosstark on Tumblr: "Tony Stark probably couldn’t go on any rollercoaster rides because of his heart problems and I don’t know why but this makes me very sad"But what if Peter Parker didn't know?  What if he got Tony amusement park tickets?





	Roller Coaster Ride

 “Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark!” 

Peter practically flew into the lab, almost barreling over the inventor that inhabited it, and knocking several of his half-completed projects off of the work bench.  They crashed to the floor, some of them splintering into several pieces.

Tony paid the damaged equipment no heed and instead grabbed Peter’s shoulders, attempting to steady him on his feet.  “Easy, kiddo.  Keep doing that, and you’re gonna break yourself.”

The teenager cringed, staring at the metal at his feet.  “Sorry, Mr. Stark.  I didn’t mean to –”

“Doesn’t matter.  Technology can be repaired,” he assured Peter, waving off his concern.

Tony was much more fixated on the kid before him, who managed to injure himself in even the safest of situations, and Tony would be damned if something happened to him because of _excitement_.

“What’s got you in such a hurry, huh?” the older man asked, trying to change the subject.  Looking Peter over, he spotted two sheets of paper clutched in his hand.  “What do you have, there?”

Peter, seeming to have recovered from the collision, was once again filled with untamed exuberance. _Kids_.

"Okay, well, first, you have to promise not to get mad at me.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but promised nonetheless. This ought to be good.

“So, I know you’ve been working super hard recently, which is fine and all – you can really get into your work, and it’s actually kind of impressive to be honest – but I think you need a break. And that’s nothing against you, but everyone has to quit at some point –”

“Pete, get on with it,” Tony cut off the boy’s ramblings, trying to sound strict through his growing smile.

Peter exhaled shortly, psyching himself up for the reveal. He held the papers up to his chest, showing them off. “I got us tickets to Six Flags.”

Tony blinked. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. He needed to tell him. How was he going to tell him? He blinked again, trying to collect his thoughts. There was something stuck in the back of his throat.

Peter’s cautiously optimistic grin was steadily replaced with worried eyes. “You don’t like it, do you?”

Tony’s stupor evaporated, his need to console the teen overtaking his disappointment.

“No, no, no, not at all,” he denied quickly. “It’s a great gift! And you’re absolutely right: I probably do need to take a break…”

“So you’ll go with me?” Peter’s hopeful gaze almost rendered Tony as broken as his work in progresses, which still littered floor.

“The thing is, kid,” Tony began, fingers absently scratching at the fabric covering the scars on his chest, “I don’t know if my heart can take it.”

Peter frowned, then, and Tony watched as he tried to find some loophole to convince him to come. “But you fly around in your Iron Man suit all the time! Roller coasters can’t be much different.”

The inventor wrinkled his nose with a sigh. “The suits are fitted with shock absorbers, among other things, to prevent the sensations associated with roller coasters. It’s like going down a hill in a car – your stomach doesn’t drop.”

“Oh.”

That one syllable upset Tony more than he thought was possible, and he aimed to fix the damage that his admittance had done.

“But, hey, I’m sure Ned would love to go! Why don’t you invite him, yeah?”

Tony’s strained smile almost had Peter convinced. Almost.

“Okay, sure. I – I can do that.”

As Peter left, Tony couldn’t help but feel like he had failed as a mentor. Like he had failed as a parent. But while he had taken the young hero’s knitted brow and tight mouth as a sign of disappointment, Peter’s expression actually meant something far different: he was thinking.

* * *

 “Mr. Stark, can you come here for a moment?”

The question was tentatively asked from behind the door to the lab, where Tony was busy repairing the damage that Peter had done the week before.

“I’m a little bit wrapped up in this, kid,” Tony tried to decline, but Peter was insistent.

“It will only take a moment, I promise,” the boy vowed, making an X over his chest with his forefinger.

Tony sighed, resignedly placing his tools back onto his work table and brushing off his hands. He followed the teen, who was now radiating joy, out into the hallway, around the corner, and into the living room. What he saw there made him do a double take.

The couch had been replaced by a large cardboard box, which looked like it might have been from a fridge. Several fans had been placed around it in a semi circle, much to Tony’s confusion. And, to top it all off, the television in front of the strange set-up was displaying a paused YouTube video, which had a bizarre set of tracks laid out before the camera.

“Peter, what…” Tony couldn’t even finish the question.

“Remember how you said that you couldn’t do roller coasters?” the boy asked, pulling at his sleeve.

Tony nodded wordlessly, suddenly realizing what Peter was getting at.

“Well,” he continued, drawing out the word, flicking on the fans, and going to take a seat in the cardboard box, which seemed wholly too big for him. “I thought we could pretend.”

Tony’s next words came out choked. “You did this for me?”

Peter grinned. He didn’t have to ask if Mr. Stark liked his efforts this time. His response was to pat the vacant section of the box.

Without hesitation, Tony obliged the invitation, not caring if Peter’s gesture was childish. This kid, who Tony had never dreamed would like him enough to ask him to an amusement park, had taken one of his shortcomings in stride and  _accommodated_  for him. Tony was too grateful for words, and thankfully, Peter seemed to understand that.

With Tony seated securely beside him, Peter unpaused the video, which caused the picture to jerk to life, taking the pair up the first hill of the roller coaster. Tony almost couldn’t focus on the video with Peter bouncing with anticipation beside him. When the first drop hit, Peter let loose a yell, as if they were actually on the ride, but it soon dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Tony refused to believe that the wetness under his glasses were tears. The fans were making his eyes dry, so they were overcompensating by producing too much water. Yeah, that was it. Regardless, Peter was oblivious. He was much too focused on the video ahead, even taking the liberty of leaning into the twists and turns of the ride.

Tony reached over and hugged his son.


End file.
